Tom Brady Started Skipping OTAs After Gisele Called Out His Commitment To Family, Marriage

BOSTON (CBS) — For years, there was no questioning Tom Brady’s commitment to football. Despite winning Super Bowl after Super Bowl after Super Bowl, the quarterback always had perfect attendance at voluntary practices during the off-season, earning himself a sweet parking spot outside Gillette Stadium in the process.

That all changed in 2018 when Brady skipped out on OTAs, a move that sent much of the football world into a tizzy. When Brady said he opted to skip those summer session to spend more time with his family, some saw it as a convenient excuse that many wouldn’t dare question.

Brady shed a lot more light on that decision, and some difficult times in his marriage to Gisele Bundchen, in his marathon interview on The Howard Stern Show on Wednesday morning. He said that his wife wrote him a “heartfelt letter” a few years back to let him know that his priorities were in the wrong place. Brady was simply focusing too much on football and his outside business ventures, and not enough of his family.

That forced the quarterback to “check himself” and make some big changes in his professional life.

“She didn’t feel I was doing my part for the family, you know. She felt like I would play football all season and she would take care of the house. And then all of the sudden when the season would end, that I’d be like, ‘Great, let me get into all my other business activities. Let me get into my football training,'” Brady explained. “She’s sitting there going, ‘Well, when are you going to do things for the house? When are you going to take the kids to school and do that?’”

At that time, Gisele made it very clear that she was not satisfied with their marriage.

“That was a big part of our marriage and I had to check myself,” Brady said. “So two years ago, I had to make a big transition in my life. I had to take care of my family, because our situation wasn’t great.”

So Brady opted to skip out on OTAs in 2018 and 2019. Though that decision drew plenty of criticism, Brady was doing what was best for his family and his marriage. Now, Brady and Bundchen’s relationship — and their family life at home — are much better off because of that choice.